Making hay.

Sometimes easy things get so hard!

Hay was in such short supply that this spring I bought a bailer. It's an old baler, but seemed to be well cared for. Bob went over it and greased it where it needed it, etc. But on one side the knotter isn't quite right and he can't seem to get it knotting like it should. So our first cutting of hay has wierd shaped bales or are just bale shaped with no strings at all. We just fed it up.

OK, so he found the son of a friend of ours who works on balers and asked him to come to the house and see if he could fix it. He came out but wasn't really much help. He only works on New Holland and ours is an IH. So now the dad is going to come out and see if he can remember anything about these old things. I forgot to mention that the baler was probably manufactured in the 1950s.

So, Bob went out to mow hay the other day and broke the mower. Mowers are very temperamental. Turns out a wooden slat, called the Pitman arm, was the wrong size and broke. The tractor supply wanted over $100 for essentially a broom handle. Bob got a wooden slat and has drilled holes in it. There was some play in the chain and he thinks he has that fixed.

He was raised on a farm and is used to constantly fixing and tinkering to get things done. It is very frustrating to me, not being mechanically inclined.

Anyway, I would recommend this for other goat people who are having trouble getting enough hay locked in the winter. Buy yourself a baler and make it yourself. That way you won't have to sell goats or horses that you would rather keep.

Several people have called us this year to bale hay on their property as an alternative to them mowing it. Obviously this is because of the high cost of lawn mowing gasoline. We have just taken these jobs when they are close. However, I really think there may be some business opportunities for someone who wants to take this on. In the past we have had to go halves with landlords or bought the hay from them. This way you are getting the hay for just what it costs you to make it. Actually you probably could charge them since you are doing them a service.

Speaking of that Bob says we still have at least $1 a bale in it just due to the gas it costs to run the machinery.

Finally got a good rain last night and this morning. Bad for making hay but great for the garden and pasture!